The Insightful Scribe

When we think of praise, the first thing that comes to mind is exalting God by our words, song and music proclaiming His wondrous works. He is worthy and for that alone we lift our voices but the results of that praise is far greater than many realize. Our praise joins with the worship from heaven, and becomes a powerful weapon of warfare against the enemy of our soul. Psalm 22:3 tells us that God dwells in the praises of His people, so when we praise, His presence falls upon us and pushes the darkness away. In that instant, the accuser of the brethren is silenced and we are no longer subject to his lies or condemnation. Psalm 8:2, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.” In the NIV Bible, it says “you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” Praise literally creates a spiritual “no attack” zone and places us in a position of victory. Joshua 6:30 tells how the walls of Jericho fell with the shout of praise and the blowing of trumpets, hardly what one would have expected God to use in order to bring victory to His people. In my own life, praise broke down spiritual barriers… freeing and bringing me to a place of victory. At the time, I was a practicing witch and had reluctantly accepted an invitation to church. When worship began, my own prison walls fell down, leaving me exposed as though all of my defenses had been stripped and for the first time in years I was able to see Truth… truth beyond what any church could deliver. In that moment, the enemy was silenced and the only voice I heard was that of the Shepherd calling out to my lost soul. It’s interesting to note that God often sent the Levites or worshipers to the front lines of the army when going into battle. He equipped them, not with your typical combat weaponry but rather they went forth with trumpets, clapping hands and shouts of praise. Jehoshaphat sent his singers to the front of the army to proclaim, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 20:21) In so doing, God broke down the strongholds and the territory laid waiting for God’s people to take possession. In the spiritual, God trains our hands for war, and anoints our fingers for battle (Psalm 144:1) but before you grab for your AK-47, take a breather because physical weapons cannot prevail against the gates of hell. Our first line of defense is simple… “Let God arise and His enemies be scattered” (Psalm 68:1). If God goes before us into battle, our own fight is diminished and all that’s left is just a few skirmishes as we overtake the ground once held by the enemy. How then, do we use the weapon of praise? Besides the methods used in the verses above; shouts of praise, clapping hands and sounding trumpets, Psalm 149:3 tells us, “Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp”. In 2 Sam. 6:14 King David danced with all his might as he brought the Ark of the Covenant, or the very presence of God into Jerusalem. So too, should we joyfully and mightily usher in the presence of God through song, dance and with musical instruments. Psalm 149: 6 says, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand,” the two-edged sword is God’s Word spoken or sung becoming a powerful weapon of warfare. The weapon of praise even penetrates into time and space. In a video “Worship and Sound”, Executive Director of the Eagles Wings Ministries, Robert Stearns offers us insight that sound waves actually create a force in the atmosphere and explains the physical theory that once sound is uttered it really is in a sense.. eternal, its waves may decrease to a place whereby you cannot hear it physically but it’s still out there. With that in mind, we can envision the continuous flow of praise being carried throughout eternity. Our opponent’s unclean spirits also utter repetitious lies that hit the sound waves, even using people in an attempt to counter. If the atmosphere is influenced by sound, then praise in essence, is a never-ending echoing and bombardment of the enemy and his demons. I believe the photo above is an excellent depiction of an astonishing study concerning Quantum Physics. In this study, it has been found that when music reaches a certain octave, far beyond what the human ear can comprehend, it becomes light. This is amazing stuff… think about it, music proclaiming Yeshua or the very Word of God has the capability to rend the heavens and quickly dispel the darkness. So… sound your shofar and declare the victory that is now and is yet to come. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. “ Psalm 150:6